Mechanical toy



B. F. BAIN.

MECHANICAL TOY.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 1919.

Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

NTTED STATES PATENT orriea BENJAMIN F. BAIN, 0F EITTSIBURG-H, PENNSYLVANIA,

, mn'cnanronn TOY.

trainee.

7 Application filed March 14, 1919. Serial No. 282,686.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. BAIN, a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mechanical Toys, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to mechanical toys of a kind embodying a movable car arranged to travel 11 and down on an inclined track or way an arranged at its upper limit of travel to automatically receive a ponderous body or weight which carries the car down the track, and which is automatically discharged from the car in its downward travel to permit a counterweight to return the car to the upper end of the track to receive another ponderous body or weight.

One difficulty with toys of this character is that the difference in weight between the ponderous body and the counterweight is so slight that the unavoidable friction of the parts is likely torender the device inoperative or uncertain in operation.

The object of the present invention is to provide a toy of the character specified which is certain in its operation, stable and durable, but which nevertheless is cheap to construct, and which can be folded into'compact form for'packing and shipping In the accompanying drawing Fig. l is a side elevation partly in section of the toy, showing the car in full lines in its upper position and in'dotted lines in its lower position; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same with the track in section on the line 22, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a detail view showing a modification.

The devicefcomprises a base member 1 formed of a metal strip bent in the form of a loop closed at its rear end 1- and open at its front end 1", and of considerable width, particularly toward the-front, to form a stable base for the toy, and having its free front ends provided with perforated ears'2 adapted to receive the lower. bent ends 3 of front uprights 4: which are cross connected at intervals-as shown, to-wit, by a bottom cross bar 5, atop cross bar 6 and a third cross bar Tnear its upper end. The base member is made of resilient metal so that the ends 2 can be sprung apart to disengage the same from the bent ends of the uprights 4. An inclined track 8 has its lower end pivotally secured to the narrow rear end of Specification of Letters Patent,

flanges .11 to stiffen the same.

ported by the uprights 4.

Patented Jan.31, 1922;

the member 1, by cross pin'9, and extends over thecross bar 7 of the uprights'i, and somewhat beyond the same. This inclined track is provided with a central raised por-- tion forming guides 10 for the carriage wheels, hereinafter described, and has its edges provided with downwardly projecting near the lower end of the track are provided with perforations to receive the lower bent ends 12 of uprights 13, which are connected by a pair of cross bars 14 spaced some distance from the ends of the uprights, so as to allow the ends of the uprights to be sprung apart, to disenga e their lower ends from the track, and also C isengage their upper ends, which likewise are provided with inwardly bent portions 15, from perforationsin the elevated receptacle 16. This rc-, ceptacle is in the form of a trough, slightly inclined from its rear end where it is sup- The inclined track 8 and the elevated receptacle 16 are detachably connected respectively to the cross bar 7 and the cross bar 6 of the front uprights 4, by providing the down-turned flanges 11 of the, track, and the upper edges of the receptacle with slots 17 which are e11- larged inwardly from the edges of the parts,

and which engagenotched or narrowed por-.

Flanges 11 V tions 18 on the bars 7 and 6 respectively,

these bars being formed of flat metal, so that by turning the parts relative to each other they can be made to engage and disengage, in a manner illustrated in prior patents to me. By this means the various parts i can be readily taken apart and folded into compact form for packing and shippin The elevated receptacle 16 is adapted to contain a number of ponderous bodies or weights,

preferably of spherical form, such as marbles 19, and which will roll by gravity down toi ward the lower end of said receptacle, the bottom of which is cut away to provide a discharge outlet 20 for the marbles. To control the discharge of the marbles through said outlet there is pivoted to the side walls leased by the upper cross member so that it i can drop to the discharge opening. This escapement member is provided with an actuating arm 26 which'pr'ojects downwardly at the side of the track in position to be ac tuated by the car.

The car 27 is formed of sheet metal, and is provided with four wheels 28, the wheels of each pair beingspacedapart such a distance as to straddle the guides 10 on the track so that the car will 'move up and down in properly guided relation to the escapement mechanism described. This car is provided with a laterally projecting pin 29 arranged, when the car approaches the upper limit of its travel, to contact with the actuating arm 26 and swing the escapement to a position to allow 3111311316, temporarily resting on its cross member 24, to drop down into the car, while bringing its upper cross member 23 into-position to hold back the remaining marbles.

Pivotally secured to the car, preferably on the pin 29, is a stirrup shaped sheet metal member 30 forming in effect a car body and serving as a retainer for the marble as the car travels down the track. The base of this stirrup is provided with the outwardly inclined arm 31, which, when the car ape preaches the lower end of its, travel, passes Over the lower cross bar let of the rear up rights 13, thereby causing the stirrup memher-.30 to be lifted, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1., and permit the discharge of the marble.

The track near its lower end is provided with an opening 32, and at the lower end of the opening with a vertical. guide 33 which directs the marble discharged from the car through the opening 32 onto the floor.

the carriage to upper position with su'liicient force to actuate the escapement mechanism,

topermit a discharge of a marble into the car, and notwithstanding that there is only a slight difference between the weight of the car and the marble therein and this counter- 7 weight, the car nevertheless, will travel rapidly to the bottom of the inclined track, due.

35 may be doubled, as shown in Fig l,

and passed over a pulley 37 on the counterweight El l, and thence extendedupwardly ann its free end secured to the upper end of the track, as at 38. This arrangement may introduce slightly more friction than the form shown in Fig. el, but enables the car to have a longer travel relative to the vertical movement of the counter-weight.

The toy described is of strong and durable construction, can be readily folded and packed and shipped, and yet is of cheap construction. It is certain and positive in its operation, due to the small amount of friction in the parts thus insuring the car reaching both its elevated and its lower position with suiiicient force vtov certainly actuate the escapement on its upper travel and certainly discharge the marble on its downward travel, and this notwithstanding that the difference in weightbetween the marbles and the counter-weight necessarily is only slight.

I claim: i

1. In a mechanical toy, the combination of a pair of vertically-disposed uprights, an'elevated inclined trough for. ponderous bodies connected at its opposite ends to said uprights and having a discharge outlet for said bodies, an inclined track extending beneath said trough and leading downwardly from the discharge outlet thereof, a car movable on said inclined trackand provided with a pivoted horically actuated by the car for delivering the ponderousbodies individuallyto the stirrup on. said car in the upper position of the car, means for raising the stirrup to discharge the ponderous bodiesfrom the car at the point in its downward travel, a cord connected to the car, a guide pulley for the cord at the upper end of the inclined track, and a freely suspended counter-weight on said cord;

2. In a mechanical toy, in combination, an elevated receptacle for ponderous bodies having a discharge outlet for said bodies, an inclined track leading from the discharge outlet of saidreceptacle, a car movable on said inclined track and arranged to receive ponderous bodies from said elevated receptacleand to discharge said ponderous bodies in its downward travel, a counter-weight for actuating said car, a base frame onone end of which the lower endof the inclinedtraclcissupported, rear uprights detachably connected to the lower end of said inclined track and to one end of. the elevated receptacle, and front uprigl-itshaving their lower ends detachably connected to the opposite endof the base frame and detachably connected to and vby the car for discharging said bodies from of contact with the track, means autolnati- 15 cally actuated by the car for delivering ponderous bodies individually from said trough upon said car in the upper position thereof, and means automatically actuated 20 the car at a point in its downward travel.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

BENJAMIN F. BAIN.

Vitnesses: 1

ALICE A. TRILL, MARY LAVELLE. 

